When we think pirated DVDs, China is the first to come in mind. However, this just might change as China Daily reports that the campaign to protect Internet intellectual property rights (IPR) will strengthen its efforts by targeting online piracy.

Wang Ziqiang, spokesman for the National Copyright Administration, defined the Internet as a major battleground for IPR protection campaign. Although their copyright laws covered Internet IPR back in 2001, he mentioned that the rapid development of computer technology has outdated the current legal systems with regards to Internet IPR. China is home to more than 450 million Internet users and the State Intellectual Property Office show the number of online IPR violation cases in 2009 made up about 50 percent of the total number of copyright cases, according to the news release.

“It is vital to protect online IPR. If not, the traditional press, the publication industry, movies and music will face severe threats from online ‘theft’ if everyone goes online to get free material,” states Ziqiang.

Last Tuesday, the Supreme People’s Court, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate and the Ministry of Public Security issued a document concerning IPR violation, including evidence collection, standard penalties and estimating transaction value.